Page 7 of Wild Curves
My phone buzzing pulls me out of my reverie, and there’s a message from Mom. She’s really trying to get a handle on the text function.
Does Allan like blueberry muffins? We’ve got a good crop this year, and I’m baking
I glance up at Arlo, and he’s eyeing me intently. A delicious shiver runs through my veins.
“Do you like blueberry muffins?”
His grin widens. “Sure do.”
This is the chance to tell Mom it was all a lie, that I’m not seeing a bearded man called Allan, that I don’t want a man and I don’t want children. But I’m an only child, and that truth will break her heart.
Instead, I text back.
He loves them!
Arlo’s grinning at me when I put the phone down, and if he wasn’t so damn handsome this might be easier. I don’t know how I’m going to get through a weekend pretending he’s mine, when in reality he never will be.
“Fine.” I place my hands on the table. “But there are ground rules.”
Arlo leans forward, his eyes sparkling. “I’ve always been a rule breaker.”
His eyes dart to my lips as he says it, sending a wave of heat rushing over me and making me lose my train of thought.
“Rule number one. No kissing.”
His eyes dart to my lips, and he leans back. “I’m not promising anything.”
Damn, his confidence sends my pulse racing. He’s a natural flirt and must be used to girls falling all over him, not that I’ve seen him with anyone since I’ve been here.
“This is a pretend relationship for two days. There’s no need to kiss.”
“I disagree. You want to fool your parents, then you need to give them a show. Make them think you’re passionately in love. If there’s no physical affection, your mom will be calling you every day to ask if we’ve broken up yet.”
He has a point, but he looks so damn smug when he says it that I’m sure he’s trying to rile me up.
My eyes dart to his lips, and an image of his mouth on mine, his beard ticking my throat springs into my mind. I grab the side of the table to steady myself.
“No kissing, Arlo.”
He doesn’t agree, but he doesn’t press the point. The thought of kissing Arlo has me so hot and bothered and flustered that I can’t even think about what else should be in the ground rules.
There won’t be a chance to kiss him if he’s behind the bar working anyway.
“You meet them once. I’ll bring them into work to see the place, and that’s it. Answer their questions, be yourself. That’s all you have to do.”
He strokes his beard and thinks about it for a while.
“So, you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend, but I’m not spending time with your parents or kissing you?”
“That’s correct.”
He eyes me from under hooded eyelashes with a look that makes me squirm. He leans forward.
“Honey, if I was your boyfriend, I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you. I’d want to meet your parents so I could ask them all about what you were like as a kid. Find out what your favorite doll was, what made you giggle, and what you were frightened of. Then I’d spend my life making sure you never had those fears and were surrounded by the things you love.”
The words heat me up from the inside out. The smirk’s gone from his face, and the look he’s giving me is so intense that it’s hard to look away.
My mouth drops open, and my tummy flutters. I can only stare at this man who’s making me feel things I’ve never felt before. Things I don’t want to feel.
